A heating issue at a Kilkenny residence for adults with intellectual disabilities took four days to resolve during the festive break.
A full repair of the heating control system at the Damara Centre, operated by Aurora (Enriching Lives, Enriching Communities) at St Patrick’s Centre on the Kells Road, was delayed by the inability to source a specialist engineer when the issue became known on December 27th.
An interim and fully supervised solution supplemented the heating system over four days before the matter was fully resolved on New Year’s Eve.
The matter was brought to the attention of The KCLR Daily, which in turn contacted the centre’s management and led to the following response from Director of Services, Mirjam O’Keeffe.
“I want to acknowledge events in relation to heating system and actions taken as follows, the health and wellbeing of the people we support is always paramount. Therefore, as soon as managers on duty, including myself, became aware of an issue on December 27th with the heating controls in the house (resulting in a reduced heating capacity) our housing and estates team were involved to assess, and if possible fix, the same day.
“As a result of initial an inspection it was determined, given the nature of the system, a specialist heating engineering firm was needed to rectify the issue. However, given the time of year this would not be available the same day. Alongside this we put an interim solution in place to supplement the existing heating system. This was reviewed daily by Estates (going on site) and on-call management with the team at Damara. As of December 31st, the issue was resolved.
“During this time staff kept in touch with family to provide updates. We value a close and open relationship with the families of people we support and welcome issues being raised. Where issues are raised we will always do our best to work together to resolve as soon as possible.”
As noted by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), Damara is “a designated centre that provides residential support for up to four adults with intellectual disabilities.
“The centre is based on the outskirts of Kilkenny City on a campus style setting. The centre is one building divided into four separate bungalows, each with their own front door and it is located within walking distance of the city. The staff team consists of a person in charge, a social care worker and healthcare assistants.
“The residents supported in Damara present with intellectual needs and may have a diagnosis of autism and other needs. The home is a seven-day residence open all year with no closures.”
Speaking to Brian Redmond on The KCLR Daily, Sarah, a mother of one of the Damara residents, hopes that lessons will be learned to ensure a speedier response in the event of such an issue arising again.
